Thursday, July 26, 2007

Tuesday night we picked up a 14 week old bichon puppy named Johnny. The owners turned him over to us because he needs heart surgery and the cost is way beyond their means (as it would be with many of us). Of course Small Paws Rescue said yes. Johnny has a Grade 6 heart murmur. He is heart murmur baby No. 52 for Small Paws Rescue. http://www.smallpawsrescue.org/. You can read all about our heart murmur babies at our website.

He is adorable. He is 5.5 pounds of baby bichon fluff and is sweet, sweet, sweet. I was going to take some pictures of him today but MY DIGITAL CAMERA HAS FINALLY DIED. The only pictures I have of him were taken the night we picked him up. Little Johnny wants to play but tires out too quickly. After his surgery he can play to his little HEART desires.

He does, however, have energy to chew electrical cords, pull on robe hems, and look for mischief. Doesn't last long, however, because he tires out too quickly. His little heart is bouncing all over the place and his chest vibrates. He has trouble breathing, but has good pink gums, and clear lungs.

Tomorrow morning we will put Johnny on a jet plane to Texas A&M for his surgery. We will miss this little baby, and pray he heals quickly.

To the wonderful family that rescued him from another party before calling us, thank you. Because of your generous hearts, he is now part of the Small Paws Rescue family, and will have his surgery for a good long life.

God be with you Johnny, and we pray you have a wonderful and long life.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

I love to garden. I am an organic gardener. No chemicals in my garden at all. This is something I feel passionate about. NO CHEMICALS IN MY GARDEN. I feel like we all have a responsibility to be stewarts of this planet, and if my organic garden is just a small part, then so be it. We are fortunate to have a garden with good soil and flat. It is 40' by 60' so we have room for produce and flowers. It is my little piece of earth for tranquility.

I have always been an organic gardener. My father was, and so was my grandmother. Dad taught me that if you feed your soil, your soil will feed you. He showed me how wonderful compost is, and how kind spading is to the soil, rather than the shock treatment of rototilling. David learned to garden from his Dad.I found a great book called "Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades" by Steve Solomon. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you have got to get the book. A lot of nurseries have the book, and yes, you can find it at Amazon.com. This book totally makes sense, and he has a formula for organic fertilizer. That stuff is amazing and the soil loves it, as well as the beneficial critters that live in the soil.

I am growing stuff I never thought of growing. Walla Walla Sweet Onions for one. This is just the first basketful that we harvested. We harvested another one.

Russet potatoes and red potatoes. Parsnips and Brussel sprouts. It is true what you read, everything does taste better coming out of the garden.

The tomatoes are growing like weeds and full of green tomatoes. Yum yum.

And raspberries ...

and broccoli. Sure gardening is a lot of hard physical labor, but good physical labor. It has been proven that women who garden have less chance of osteoporosis than women who work out in a gym, run, bike, or walk. It is the variety of exercise, including bending, lifting, carrying, shoveling, walking, and weeding, and the time spent in the sun which provides bone strengthening vitamin D. The fresh air is a big plus too, and the satisfaction of a job well.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

This is the old City Hall for Sequim, Washington. It was moved from the original location on Cedar St. to 170 West Bell, in Sequim. The building has been restored and is now the home of A DROPPED STITCH. Yes, it's true. It is now home to a YARN SHOP!!!! Does this make me happy, you bet it does. I have to have a yarn shop close by, and I love this shop.

It is darling on the outside with lots, and lots of parking. On the inside ...

YARN, and looms, and knitting machines, and yarn ...

and ...

Jean and Nora, the lovely ladies who own the shop. They are great and make you feel right at home. They are helpful, and are having a ball with their shop. And as you can see, there is plenty to buy (the yarn purchase on the counter is, of course, mine).

There is a whole wall of coned yarn, and more yarn is coming in all the time.

The A Dropped Stitch opened last Halloween in a much smaller location. In a matter of months, they needed more space. Good news for all of us fiber addicts.

Jean and Nora, I'll be stopping by next weekend. The ladies and I are having another retreat the first weekend in August, and we certainly will be coming to visit you.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Frank and John came up to Edgar's Acres a couple of weekends ago to build something for David for Father's Day. (I know, little late for Father's Day but we have alway extended holidays and birthdays.) A horseshoe pit.

First the location ... where to put it.

This looks good. Nice view of the mountains, level, and won't be attacked by the sprinkler system three times a week.

When we first got our place in Sequim we thought it would be fun to have a horseshoe pit, we have the room, and the clanging noise wouldn't bother anyone. It was, however, low on the list of priorities. So, we ordered the supplies, and hauled them to the designated spot (these guys love driving the truck in the yard). Of course, Edgar was there to supervise.

Looks pretty good, and it's fun. They do good work.Now, here is a question that only a gardening mom would think of ... do you suppose I could plant tulips behind the backboards for early spring color?

I love watching these guys at work, they are a real team and get the job done. And a great job they did too.

John went ahead and mowed the lawn for me that weekend. I think he enjoyed himself, don't you. What a classic picture, maybe entitle it something like ... what more does a man need ... he has his dog, tractor and beer.

When I was taking pictures of the horseshoe pits, I stopped to look at the last pit these guys built for me. The fire pit, built in about 30 minutes by these two.

We are so blessed with Frank and John. They are wonderful sons and now that they are adults, we are having a blast with them.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

I got the nicest email from Diana, one of the OHS 2007 volunteers. I can't paraphrase it and do it justice so Diana said I could just insert it into my blog. The picture above is of one of her stockings.

"OK, you got me hooked. Didn't think I'd like knitting the socks, didn't think I'd like them when done, but I did, and I do.

"I used your pattern and made the top 6 rows of garter stitch in white and the rest red - one bit of decoration of garter stitch when forgot to pay attention and purl back, but cuter than heck. Love the way the toe shapes up.

"Since there were Christmas colors of perfect yarn in a stash I was gifted, guess it was meant to be. I'll see how many I can knit by the gathering time. They're the perfect Summer knitting project."

Now, let me tell you about Diana. When I sent out that first plea for stockings in 2005, Diana was the very first person to respond and help start the wheels rolling. She is one of the Blanketeers for Small Paws Rescue, and one of my foster volunteers. I will be the first to admit that the Christmas of 2005 was looking to be a real downer because the our son the LT was in Iraq. I can remember Diana sharing stories with me via emails about her loved ones being away during the holidays. She also sent a lot of encouragement for the stocking project, and helped me keep my outlook positive. Diana you are a gem. Diana is also the volunteer I called on when I picked up Gus at the Humane Society. Gus was so sick, very underweight, and hurting. The minute I saw him I called Diana to see if she could foster and love this dear doggie. She, of course, said yes. Well, Gus was adopted and is healthy, happy and so loved. Diana made that possible by her tender loving care.

And now she knitting socks for OHS 2007. Diana is just one of the many special people who get involved in Operation Holiday Stockings. Thanks Diana!

I mentioned I started knitting a baby sweater while vacationing at Edgar's Acres. I finished it today and it was gifted to a young lady at work. This woman is due to have her second daughter any day now, which is such a joyous and exciting event to look forward to. There is a cloud to this, however. Three weeks ago her father died unexpectedly. She was devastated. When Cynthia told me about this young woman, my heart ached for her. When I was 3 months pregnant with our oldest son my dad died of a heart attack, totally unexpected. I wanted to do something. I don't know this woman so asked Cynthia if I could finish up the sweater and have Cynthia give it to her at the shower they held for her today.

Cynthia gave it to her privately so she could tell her why I knit it for her new baby, and that I hoped it would help a little to heal her pained heart. The young lady called and in tears thanked me for caring for her and for her new baby. And she loved the colors! The colors are bright and will be perfect (in my mind that is) for winter. I told her that the sweater is full of prayers for her new daughter and that it will provide God's warmth for her this winter.

I used the Classic Worsted Tapestry by Universal Yarn, Inc., in the Party Time color. The pattern is the Babies Neck Down Sweater by Knitting Pure and Simple http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/kids.html. Now here is the weird thing, see how the stripes in the sleeves match. This is a self-striping yarn and I did NOT plan to match those stripes. It just happened to work out that way.

We are off to Edgar's Acres this weekend. We've got raspberries, broccoli, peas, Walla Walla Sweets, and garlic to harvest. Yum Yum. I'll also have a report of the Pit for all of you.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

I woke up late this morning, around 7:30, too late to start out in the garden. The dogs and I went to bed after midnight last night because our neighbors were celebrating the 4th of July last night with a lot of fireworks. They had a great time, the dogs were totally freaked.

Since I was got up too late to work in the garden (I've been gardening from 5:30 a.m. to around 9:30 before it gets too hot), I decided to work on the Heartbeat Sweater.

Yesterday I finished the back and sewed the shoulders together. It is going to be so pretty and I love the way it looks.

I went to try it on and IT'S JUST PLAIN TOO BIG. The front and back necklines come down below my bra, just way to low for me to be wearing around any where. Okay, my clothing construction and fitting background come into play here, ... let's increase the shoulder seams to raise the neckline.

Nope, still TOO BIG! Okay, raising the neckline isn't an option.

I decided to go mow the front lawn. I was mowing along pondering my sweater and feeling frustrated when a neighbor rode down on his bike to introduce himself and talk over a misunderstanding concerning this kids cutting through our yard. What a nice thing to do, and we got the problem resolved very nicely.

Still mowing when I heard a familiar sound and looked up and WOW, it was an American Bald Eagle circling overhead. He was so low I could see his beak. It was thrilling watching such a majestic bird, and it dawned on me, today is the 4th of July and I got to see the national emblem in flight. I had to stop, turn off the mower, and just watch as he flew and rode the wind currents. It was a reflective break of about ten minutes watching this beautiful bird.

On with mowing when I noticed our neighbor Fred walking around his house to his front porch carrying something, and without a hat on. Fred and his wife Viola moved down from Canada many, many years ago. During WWII, Fred was in the Canadian Army. And Fred is never without a hat. I rode the mower and watched him step up his front porch when I noticed he had a flag in his arms. I stopped, and turned off the mower again, and watched this dear man of 86 raise the American Flag with reverance and respect to honor the 4th of July. After the flag was raised he saluted and then very quietly walked around to the back of his house. I was touched, and felt honored.

I finished mowing the front lawn while thinking about the significant of the 4th of July. The TOO BIG sweater seemed like a small matter in the scheme of things.

As for the sweater, I've got to think on that, but in the meantime, I started a baby sweater.